Josef
Josef was the former palace librarian in the Palace of Del. He originally served under King Alton , but when he was ordered to burn the Deltora Annals, day to day historical records of Deltora , by the Alton's Chief Advisor , he faked his death and the destruction of the books and fled the palace. Sixteen years later he was found by Jasmine in the cellar of a burnt-down pottery in Del, hiding the Annals. He was reinstated at the Palace as Official Palace Librarian and the Annals was returned to the library. Josef was most famously known for his works such as Tales of Deltora. He died after he got poisoned by Paff. History Josef was first encountered by Jasmine, who had followed Ranesh to Josef's hideout. It is a small area beneath an inn. He is described as a frail and weak man who would do as he was told to keep himself well, despite how wary as to where Ranesh, his assistant (and to Josef, was like the 'son he never had') got it from. He was the Palace Librarian before the Shadow Lord came, and he had an assistnat at the time named Paff. He managed to escape from the Shadow Lord by faking his death. Josef was ordered to burn the entire history of Deltora by the Shadow Lord's orders, but he instead camme up with a plan. He was thought to be dead when the Deltora Annals were 'burnt'. in truth, he escaped with the Annals undergroung and set the room on fire, leaving a note that he had 'killed himself'. He has a young assistant, a boy called Ranesh, who lives with him. They met when Ranesh was very young, and Josef took him in. He is treated as Josef's son - Josef constantly worries about him. Ranesh was a young orphan boy who used to steal food to survive; he also stole food when they were in hiding. Deltora Shadowlands Josef's role in the story is very important. He is first mentioned as just a 'librarian who killed himself in the shame of burning the Annals'. He is seen further on in the first book, The Cavern of the Fear, when Ranesh follows Jasmine and eventually gets her to visit Josef in his underground hiding. He is celebrated for keeping the Annals, and gets his job given back to him as the Official Palace Librarian. He is put in charge of keeping the Annals (which pleases him very much.) He is later overjoyed to see his old friend from when before the Shadow Lord came, Amarantz, but is upset to find out that she had lost her hearing when she was beaten by the Grey Guards, whom of which were taking prisoners across the Mountains to the Shadowlands. After being told to keep an eye on Marilen, he almost immediately guesses that she is to be the young king's bride. He then starts to worry for Ranesh as he starts to grow close to Marilen. He also has a vast knowledge of the Annals and provides maps for Lief, Jasmine and Barda for their journey. Dragons of Deltora In this series of books, Paff, a former assistant of his, slips poison into his food. He doesn't die from it, but it causes him to lose his memories and become delusional. This leads to him starting to think that Doom doesn't trust him. He later dies by Paff's hands. Physical appearance Josef was described as a frail, old man with grey hair. His face was described as being wrinkled. His apperance grew more frail as he was poisoned by Paff. Personality Josef was very wise and knowledgable. He was very protective of the royal family he served. He often let his tounge slip. When he let secrets entrusted to him by the people he served slip, he would feel terrible guilt and would not relax until he was personally forgiven. He later learned that it was wise to keep quiet. Abilities Josef was very wise and knowledgable scholar. He remembered tales and history which had been forgotten by most people. He was very knowledgable on the art of reading and writing, and also had a talent for painting, which he demonstrated in a book which described different monsters found in Deltora. His wisdom exceeded that of past scholars who had dismissed many ancient tales as nothing more than make-believe fairy tales, but which in fact had a lot of truth to them. Category:Characters Category:Deceased Category:Del (tribe) Category:Post-Adin Deltorans Category:Deltorans